1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to animal harnesses.
2. Background Art
For many years, the movements of domesticated animals, such as dogs, have been controlled through the use of an intermediary apparatus involving an item worn by the animal and a means by which the person interacts with the item. A common example of this is the collar and leash combination, whereby the animal wears a collar around its neck and a leash comprising of a length of rope or leather is attached to the collar. A person may impart control and commands to the animal by pulling on the leash to tug the collar. Unfortunately for the animal, such an apparatus causes chocking and strain to the animal's head, neck and spine.
In attempts to gain better control over the animal with less strain on the animal, harnesses have been designed. Use of a harness is preferred for animals that have suffered or are recovering from trauma, surgery or treatment affecting the head, neck or spine, as well as for providing increased control of and comfort for healthy animals. Generally, a harness comprises a body section and a neck section which are connected together. Although improved control over the animal is achieved, as compared to the collar and leash combination, conventional harnesses do not distribute pressures evenly across the body of the animal, which continues to result in undue strain and pressures on the animal's sensitive regions, such as under the legs and around the stomach. Other harnesses employ elaborate cinching and pulling mechanisms in an attempt to distribute pressures on the animal. However, these harnesses are complicated to manufacture and to use. Other harnesses do not contain handles or contain handles that are not easily graspable or interfere with the animal's movement. In such cases, it is difficult, if not impossible, to be close to the animal while controlling the animal. This is particularly important for working dogs, such as guide dogs, police dogs and customs dogs.
In the Sporn U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,964, a harness is described which attempts to control a dog by having straps ride up the dog's crotch when the dog strains against the leash. While focusing pressure on this highly sensitive area may be effective in causing submission in the animal, it achieves this result by inflicting pain and discomfort on the animal.
In Pritchard U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,285 and Wilson U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,979, harnesses are described which attempt to distribute pressure by providing for a chest pad. While these harnesses distribute pressure across the animal's chest, they do not pull evenly across the body to evenly distribute the pressures.
In Collins U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,309 and Smith U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,906, harnesses are described which contain a handle for grasping by an operator. However, these handles are rigid and would interfere with the animal's movements in confined spaces. In Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,245, a harness is described that contains a handle that lies against the back of the animal. This type of handle is difficult to readily grasp while the animal is moving and does not allow for pressures to be evenly distributed across the harness when in use. In Franck U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,799, a harness is described that contains a handle that may be fixed in either an upright or a flat position, depending on the particular needs at the time. However, this involves complicated mechanical means which are costly to manufacture, difficult to incorporate into the harness, requires a rigid harness and greatly increases the weight of the harness. Additionally, such a harness cannot be easily used with a leash.
There is therefore a need for an improved animal harness which distributes pressures evenly across the harness without imposing pressures on the animal's head, neck and spine and without imposing pressures on the animal's other sensitive areas, while also providing for both a leash and a handle interaction by the operator whereby the handle option does not interfere with the animal's movement while being easily graspable by the operator and which is easy to manufacture and use.